In the Lviv region, an indictment has been sent to court against officials of one of the city councils and a representative of a private enterprise, who are accused of operating a scheme for supplying substandard coal to educational institutions and unlawfully obtaining almost UAH 2.3 million in budget funds. This was reported by the Lviv Regional Prosecutor’s Office.
According to the investigation, in September last year the deputy director of a private enterprise conspired with the city mayor and her deputy in order to gain an advantage when concluding a contract for the supply of coal to educational institutions. A subordinate was also involved in implementing the scheme – the acting head of the education department.
To eliminate competitors, requests for commercial offers, according to the prosecution, were sent only to “friendly” business entities, and the tender documentation was drawn up with requirements and a fuel specification that had been agreed in advance with the preferred contractor. In October 2025, the acting head of the education department, abusing her office, ensured the conclusion of a contract between the city council and the selected supplier.
Prosecutors note that the contractor did not intend to properly fulfil the terms of the contract: the coal actually supplied was of poorer quality than stipulated, and documents confirming the quality of the fuel were missing. Despite this, the acting head of the education department signed the invoices provided by the contractor, and on this basis, settlements between the enterprise and the city council were carried out.
As a result, according to the investigation, 214 tonnes of substandard coal were delivered to 11 educational institutions subordinate to the city council, and the contractor enterprise unlawfully received almost UAH 2.3 million from the local budget.
Separately, the city mayor is accused of receiving an unlawful benefit from subordinates. This concerns a bonus payment scheme whereby employees were required to return in cash part of the funds paid to them as bonuses. It has been documented that in September last year the official thus received UAH 4,700 from a specialist of the city council’s finance department.
The city mayor, her deputy and the acting head of the department of education, culture, youth and sports are charged with abuse of office committed by a group of persons upon prior conspiracy (Part 2 of Article 28, Part 2 of Article 364 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine). In addition, the city mayor is further accused of receiving an unlawful benefit (Part 3 of Article 368 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine), and the deputy director of the private enterprise is accused of misappropriating someone else’s property through abuse of office (Part 5 of Article 191 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine).
The pre-trial investigation in this criminal proceeding was conducted by the Main Department of the National Police in the Lviv region with operational support from the Lviv Regional Office of the Security Service of Ukraine and the Department for Strategic Investigations in the Lviv region of the Criminal Investigation Department of the National Police of Ukraine.
In accordance with Article 62 of the Constitution of Ukraine, a person is presumed innocent of committing a crime and may not be subjected to criminal punishment until their guilt has been proved in the manner prescribed by law and established by a guilty verdict of a court.